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24.92
12.81
Values in GW
4.97
4.55
3.99
Germany
Italy
Japan
Spain
USA
12.1
Top fi ve global PV country producers in 2011.
However, the leader in total capacity as seen in Fig.12.1 is unlikely to
change dramatically for the next few years due to its current extensive lead
and addition of new projects. Surprisingly, one thing that did change in 2011
is that Italy jumped ahead of Germany in the amount of PVs added follo-
wed by a new player - China - which came in third, showing that the
number of countries embracing solar energy is expanding. PV systems are
now successfully used in more than 120 countries with 25% of the market
being utility-scale. Currently most of the manufacturing process has moved
from the US to Asia, with 61% of 2011 global production located in this
area.
The drive to continue worldwide embracement of PVs has not slowed
down. In 2011 the main leaps forward took place in Europe and China.
Germany has continued its love for solar energy but it is now joined by
Italy, both rising by 57%, asserting themselves by the amount of the electric
energy produced by PVs in 2011 as market leaders in the utilization of this
energy source. In relation to the manufacturing element, China has risen as
the frontrunner, not only housing the largest manufacturing PV company,
Suntech Power Holding, but also being given the title of the country pro-
ducing most (650 panel manufacturing companies) of the world's PV panels.
However, as the market expands, so does the interest in new utility-scale
markets, which are emerging in Mali, China, Bulgaria, the United Arab
Emirates, Egypt, Thailand and India, with the future being very much
related to the regions of the Middle East, Africa, South America, India and
China. Like many other countries that have embraced PVs, Europe has set
some targets it wants to achieve in the next decade for the embracement
of renewable energy. The continent states that by 2020 more than 33% of
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